A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Saudi graduates stage jobs protest
RIYADH– Some 200 unemployed Saudi graduates staged a rare protest in the capital Riyadh demanding the Gulf state give them jobs. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is an absolute monarchy that has no elected parliament and usually does not tolerate public displays of dissent.
Unemployment hit 10.5 per cent last year and creating jobs for a native population of more than 18 million is one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s leadership. – (Reuters)
18 mushroom pickers killed
MILAN– At least 18 mushroom lovers have been killed in accidents while hunting for their favourite fungi in the mountains and forests of northern Italy.
Mountain rescuers say eager mushroom seekers are abandoning safety procedures as they don camouflage and hunt in darkness to protect coveted troves, la Repubblicanewspaper said.
“There is too much carelessness. Too many people don’t give a damn about the right rules and unfortunately this is the result,” said Gino Comelli, head of the Alpine rescue service in northwest Italy’s Valle di Fassa. – (Reuters)
Home of Chechen president attacked
MOSCOW– At least 19 people were killed yesterday after Islamist rebels launched an audacious attack on the heavily defended residence of Chechnya's pro-Kremlin president Ramzan Kadyrov.
Chechen officials said that 12 insurgents and two guards were killed after the rebels slipped into Tsentoroi, Kadyrov’s home village, in the early hours yesterday. Russian TV reported that five civilians had also been killed in fierce fighting.
The main rebel website claimed 60 “mujahideen” had stormed Kadyrov’s village, destroying two checkpoints and blowing up an armoured personnel carrier. – (Reuters)
EU signs deal to help dismantle Saddam’s nuclear facilities
BAGHDAD– The EU has signed a €2.5 million agreement with Iraq to help its scientists dismantle, decommission and decontaminate nuclear facilities built under Saddam Hussein.
Iraq has been trying to clean up its 10 nuclear sites, but the going has been slow since the work began two years ago.
The EU programme to train Iraqi scientists and provide equipment will speed up the operation, which had been estimated to take up to a decade. So far scientists have only cleared one site in central Baghdad.
“This contract will help boost the abilities [of the scientists] so they will be able to dismantle more complicated facilities,” science minister Raed Fahmy said. – (Reuters)